Watching the film of the book in an English lesson

[Sandra6]

Just wondering what people's thoughts are on a GCSE english lesson being spent watching a tv adaptation of Great Expectations - not just the one, but four versions of the same film.
My daughter is in year 10 and has watched more films than she's read books this year. She's not happy about it - which speaks volumes in my opinion - and has asked me to raise it with her teacher.
I've emailed this morning and had a reply to say she, the teacher, believes watching the film is consolidating their understanding of the plot. But I would disagree, and I think it will cause confusion between the author's portrayal of a character and their on screen persona, which is often very far from the original.
Lazy teaching is the way I would describe it.
Daughter has previously complained about the amount of tv they watch in class - and how many 15 year olds do that?!

 

[AndyRM]

Have they already read the book?

 

[Sandra6]

Have they already read the book?

Yes, they have, and are expected to re-read it next year in their own time.
Does it make a difference that the teacher in question found the time to reply to my email during the lesson?!

 

[AndyRM]

If they've read it then I don't think watching adaptations of it is necessarily a bad thing - shows how different folk interpret the source material (there's a version set in New York, which is a pretty big departure). Though four versions does seem a bit excessive, particularly during class time.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I cannot recall ever reading a book in class time, and we tended to discuss themes/interpretations and, on occasion, watch adaptations; we even went to the theatre <shudder, imagine that>...

 

[Beebo]

The teachers job is to get as many pupils to pass the exam as possible, if watching the film helps to cement the basics of the plot in the minds of some pupils then she has done her job.

If the pupils are anything like i was, a fair few will not have read the book, and the teacher knows this.

I remember doing julius Caeser at GCSE, watching the video helped me.

 

[Tin Pot]

Its a shared experience which allows them to discuss the story more, sounds reasonable to me. Four full films of the same story sounds more appropriate for a media studies class though...presumably they are examining the different ways the story can be interpreted?

 

[swee'pea99]

Interesting. I can see both sides. Certainly I can see why you might regard it as simple lazy teaching. But I don't think the teacher's point is entirely without merit: seeing the thing four times should among other things help them get the plot clear, once and for all, which I would have thought would be good for the exam, other things being equal. I guess one question would be, what would be the context for this telly-watching? If the teacher just sits them in front of a telly and goes onto facebook/deals with personal emails/fends off parental complaints, that would tend towards the 'lazy' interpretation. But if the watching is activekly used as a springboard for questioning/debate that makes the class think, that could be all to the good. ('Which version was most true to the original? What got cut from version 2, and did it matter? Which version best portrayed the relationship between Pip and Mrs Haversham?' And so on.) I guess if your daughter feels moved to protest, it would suggest that 'lazy' is nearer the mark. In which case, I'd certainly monitor for 'afters', and, if I felt it necessary, take it up with the head.

 

[srw]

I remember watching the films of Equus and Walkabout during O-level English lessons. Which were interesting. And a good way to learn about the books.

 

[Drago]

I seem to recall a similar thing when I was in the 5th year, as it was then, and Rambo somehow made it's way into the VCR. Worked for me.

 

[Sandra6]

From what I'm told, this particular teacher has been absent for over half of the year and they've had substitute teachers.
There's been little discussion of the films, or book for that matter, although they've had some practice papers to do.
Pretty much they are sitting in front of a screen for an hour or so. She could do that at home. I'm sticking with lazy teaching.
This isn't the only film they've watched. I've heard more films mentioned than books, which isn't good.
The only film I watched during gcse english was a more modern version of Midsummer Night's dream and that was designed to help with the language used more than anything.
We did go to the Theatre, which I'd totally support, but on the rare occasion they do go it usually involves coming home at midnight on a school day which simply isn't practical, and I can't always afford it.

 

[User169]

I had to read Lark Rise. Thank god that was some time prior to the BBC adaptation.

 

[swee'pea99]

From what I'm told, this particular teacher has been absent for over half of the year and they've had substitute teachers.
There's been little discussion of the films, or book for that matter, although they've had some practice papers to do.
Pretty much they are sitting in front of a screen for an hour or so. She could do that at home. I'm sticking with lazy teaching.
This isn't the only film they've watched. I've heard more films mentioned than books, which isn't good.

That does sound like bone idle, pure & simple. Have you raised it with the head/governors?

 

[Floating Bombus]

Yes, they have, and are expected to re-read it next year in their own time.
Does it make a difference that the teacher in question found the time to reply to my email during the lesson?!

Yes, IMO. Though are you absolutely certain it was during the lesson not a break?

 

[spen666]

The teachers job is to get as many pupils to pass the exam as possible, if watching the film helps to cement the basics of the plot in the minds of some pupils then she has done her job.

If the pupils are anything like i was, a fair few will not have read the book, and the teacher knows this.

I remember doing julius Caeser at GCSE, watching the video helped me.

to this day, many decades on, I have never read either of the 2 books we studied for English O Level.

I have seen many films / plays of them and even been to USA to specifically visit the locations used in one of the books.

did I pass ? Easily as it happens


English literature is about the interpretation of the books as much as anything and watching the adaptations helps understand different interpretations of them.

Watching a film is far better than sitting in silence in class whilst all38 pupils read the next chapter of the book